Jul 24, 2008 4:53 pm US/Eastern
Dolly Weakens Into A Depression
Heavy Rain Likely To Cause Widespread Flooding
YUCATAN PENINSULA, Mexico (CBS4) ―
Tropical Storm Dolly has weakened into a depression and is expected to completely dissipate by Friday, even though it continues to drench parts of southern Texas and northern Mexico on its trek to the west.
After slamming into South Padre Island around midday on Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane, Dolly lost much of its windy bluster but continued to draw moisture in off the Gulf of Mexico. By Wednesday evening it had weakened to a tropical storm.
By 5:00 p.m. EDT, Dolly was centered about 35 miles south of Eagle Pass, Texas.
With maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, Dolly is moving toward the west-northwest near 14 mph, and is expected to continue this motion for the next day or so.
On Wednesday, Dolly's heavy rains set records in Brownsville's Cameron County - ranging from six to 12 inches with another three to seven inches expected overnight – but they did not pose a threat to the Rio Grande's levees that had been feared.
The river rose steadily through the day in Brownsville, but never reached flood stage.
"We're not experiencing any issues with the levees right now," Sally Spener, spokeswoman for the International Boundary and Water Commission, said late Wednesday. "The water is just not high enough."
The torrential rains and fierce winds that lasted much of the day in south Texas caught many by surprise.
By Wednesday afternoon, the community of Laureles north of Los Fresnos had been reduced to a chain of sunken islands, separated from the main roads by floodwaters of two feet or more in places.
More than 5,000 people moved to public shelters in the three hardest-hit counties and the numbers were expected to grow Thursday as more people became stranded by floodwaters.
In Hidalgo County, Pena said there were several incidents late Wednesday requiring emergency personnel to rescue people from homes.
One family was left huddling in their topless house after winds blew the roof off in the northeast part of the county until rescuers arrived, Pena said. In Cameron County, sheriff's deputies rescued a family of eight from Los Fresnos after floodwaters surrounded their home.
The only serious injury reported Wednesday occurred when the wind knocked a 17-year-old boy from a seventh-story balcony on South Padre Island. The boy suffered a broken hip, leg and a head injury but could not be transported off the island until about 5 p.m. The causeway linking the island to the mainland reopened to the public at 8:30 p.m., said Melissa Zamora, an emergency management spokeswoman on the island.
The island sustained some of the storm's heaviest damage and was still without power Wednesday night. Roofs were torn off hotels and homes, there was significant flooding that had begun to subside and debris was everywhere. A curfew was imposed for 8 p.m., Zamora said.
The U.S. Census Bureau said that based on Dolly's path, about 1.5 million Texans could have possibly felt the storm's effects. Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared 14 south Texas counties disaster areas and sought federal disaster declarations.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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